Remnants
by CrossroadxOFxVesper
Summary: Vesper, the result of a genetic experiment, acts as a vigilante to protect people from those who would do them harm. Many challenges lie ahead of him, and he will need the help of others to survive. – On hiatus


I haven't gone about editing it at all, but I'm just gonna put this back up here for ol' times' sake until I get enough time to do what I need to.

This is the first thing I ever put up here, and I'm rather fond of it. R&R plz & thankavou.

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Soft light from the Hunter's moon shone down upon the skyline, illuminating much of the city, including a humanoid hooded figure crouched low upon a high spire. While a dark hooded jacket and black pants managed to obscure much of the figure, part of a white muzzle poked out from under the hood, and a vulpine tail, black with a white tip, hung behind the figure. Massive arm muscles stretched out the fabric in the arms of the jacket, indicating the figure was male. He remained motionless, other than slight movements from bright green eyes that shone vividly from within the low-pulled hood, as he surveyed his surroundings. In particular, he focused on a man, swathed in a light green trenchcoat, some distance away from him on an adjacent roof.

The roof the man stood upon was littered with random refuse, and ventilation ducts for the air conditioning system jutted from the rooftop. A small concrete structure, complete with a heavy-duty metal door, was centered upon the roof—a stairwell. The man shuffled around and paced uncomfortably, as though he were impatient, and mumbled quietly to himself. Though no human could possibly hear him from that distance, the hooded figure was able to understand the man's mutterings with ease, as if mere inches were all that separated them.

The vulpine had to suppress a chuckle as the man became particularly vocal, and began gesticulating wildly, revealing a Desert Eagle in his hand, "The fuck is taking them so long? I'm freezing my ass off out here! I joined so I could get people to finally take me seriously, not stand guard duty for some arrogant pricks! It's always, 'Shane, I need you to be our watchman.' One of these days, those assholes will get what's coming to them! With my connections, I should be an Elite, not a guard dog for some losers!"

The fox's eyes narrowed when he caught sight of the weapon, but his expression soon changed to one of boredom, as he closed his eyes and allowed his expression to fall flat. 'Typical,' he thought. 'It's a shame; by the way he's waving that DEagle around, he's obviously untrained. He lacks discipline as well... This will be _far_ too easy. ...Perhaps I should screw with his head a little; at least that could provide a few seconds of amusement.'

Spying a slightly ajar ventilation grate in one of the ducts, the figure stared intently at the grate. His eyes glowed a vibrant emerald for a brief instant, and with the sound of rushing wind, the grate swung open, impacting with a resonant _clang_ against the metallic duct.

Shane jumped at the sound, his hands fumbling clumsily on the gun, but he shakily caught it before it hit the ground. Turning suddenly to face the grate, he fired off three rounds, none of which actually hit the grate, before swinging around wildly and aiming at random objects on the roof.

The vulpine figure winced at the action; the gunshots were extremely loud to his ears, and would probably alert the man's accomplices. In a different situation, the poor accuracy of the shots would have greatly amused the anthropomorph, but as it was, he was disgusted at his target's stupidity.

The vulpine turned his attention to the weapon, and within a fraction of a second, he had melted the firing pin, leaving the gun effective only as a hammer. As the pin was liquefied, the vulpine's eyes again glowed iridescent green. The gun-wielding man happened to be facing in that direction, and noticed the flash of green, much to the chagrin of the fox. The vulpine looked down with a smirk as the man aimed the gun at him and pulled the trigger, only to hear a highly anticlimactic silence, at which the vulpine chuckled. Hearing the figure's smooth baritone laugh, Shane immediately looked down and fumbled with the weapon. While he was distracted with the weapon failure, the fox jumped high into the air, landing silently some feet behind the man, where he was shielded by one of the ducts. As a precaution, he backed into a thick shadow, rendering him completely invisible to human eyes. Shane pulled back the slide action on the handgun, expelling an unused round, and again aimed at the spire, only to find that the figure had disappeared. He stood there for a few seconds, confusion evident on his face, until he again randomly twisted around and pointed the weapon at various bits of refuse that stood out among the objects on the roof.

The metal door to the stairwell suddenly swung open almost silently, and three men ran out, carrying their weapons at the ready. Unlike Shane, these men were highly trained, and performed a sweep of the roof in front of the door within seconds. They possessed military-grade weaponry and devices, including state-of-the-art vision technology, and wore matching clothing—a black beanie, tight black t-shirt, black pants, and black jump boots. On their heads was what initially seemed to be a mere headset, but at further inspection, revealed an eyepiece that analyzed the front view in multiple wavelengths of light, including infrared and an altered form of x-ray. The matte-black guns they carried were all outfitted with suppressors, and possessed laser sights to help aim for situations where the full-automatic setting was required.

Seeing nothing, they lowered their weapons, and approached Shane menacingly. Two of them were of above average height and build for adult men, but in comparison with the third, they were tiny and weak-looking; the largest of them was nearly seven feet tall, and looked as though he spent every waking moment in a gym. A detailed tattoo, depicting a fiery red Chinese dragon, twisted down the left side of his face and his neck, disappearing beneath the collar of his tight, black shirt. He angrily pulled off his beanie, revealing a completely shaven head that reflected the bright moonlight. His face and neck were likewise shaven, and he looked as inconspicuous as he possibly could for a man of his stature. For a man with such bulk, he moved with remarkable agility, and was even faster than the other two men who on either side of him.

Though the fox eyed them with equal hatred, the largest of the men in particular caused him to tense up. He recognized this man by his alias—Dimitri. Just that one word inspired fear in even the most hardened criminals across the city. Dimitri had a laundry list of charges: murder, assault, rape, arson, and innumerable more. He was known for his cunning and brutality, and quite a reward was offered for any willing to risk their life in order to kill him. There was nothing offered for bringing him in alive; the police force knew the only way they'd get their hands on Dimitri would be in a body bag.

The vulpine subconsciously gritted his teeth and clenched his hands into fists. His rage steadily grew as he remembered the atrocities Dimitri had committed. The fox knew that Dimitri had killed many men who did not deserve to live, and did not hold that against him. However, Dimitri had killed dozens of innocents, including women and children. For that, Dimitri would die tonight; the vulpine would make sure of it.

The men quickly rounded upon Shane, who began backing away fearfully. Dimitri spoke; his deep and ragged bass harsh to all who had the misfortune of hearing it, "Again you manage to completely fuck up a mission. I thought we had _gotten through_ to you after last time! I don't get it; all you have to do is stand there and look pretty while the big boys take care of business. But you just _had_ to go and start shooting at something. Idiot, now the _entire fucking neighborhood _knows we're up here. If you're gonna shoot, I expect the dead body of the poor bastard who was stupid enough to get in our way. So where's the body, Shane?"

Shane looked up at Dimitri with a horrified and scared expression. "D-Dimitri, I s-swear I saw something! It was standing on the pole over there!" He pointed to the spire on the roof of the building next to the one they stood upon. "It was the hooded dude, I swear! He's been stalking me for weeks! He won't leave me alone! I almost got him too, but my gun screwed up..."

Dimitri stepped forward, and with only one hand, flung Shane a full twenty feet across the roof, his gun clattering to the ground a little ways from him—too far to reach. From there, only a few feet separated Shane from the lip of the roof. Shane shakily got to his feet, holding his side in pain.

"I warned you last time! I told you I would kill you if you fucked up again. I guess you just decided not to listen. That's a dumbass move; anyone who ignores me obviously doesn't respect me. And I have a problem with that. If people don't respect me, then my reputation will go to shit. The only way I know to take care of those people...well, you already know."

With that, Dimitri and his accomplices advanced upon Shane, their guns aimed at his chest. As three red dots painted Shane's chest, he began hyperventilating, and commenced begging pitifully for his life. The men ignored him, and donned sadistically joyous expressions, as if the upcoming bloodlust was something they craved.

Their position sealed their fates; their backs were to the ducting, where the vulpine crouched watching. The fox would not allow Shane to die; he was still innocent. Shane may have made stupid decisions, and his connections consisted of criminals of the worst kind, but Shane himself had yet to perform any unforgivable acts. He would be spared, but the other three would not be so lucky.

Completely enraged, the fox acted with inhuman swiftness. He jumped out from behind the duct and sprinted, almost silently, behind them, already preparing an attack.

The man on the left was taken out first, dispatched when the vulpine quickly broke his neck by ramming the heel of his hand into the base of the man's skull. The dead man dropped his weapon, and it clattered metallically on the ground. He lifted the body before gravity could take a hold on it, and threw it at the man on the right. As the corpse flew towards him, he too dropped his weapon, and held up his hands, as if to catch the body. However, the force behind the throw proved too strong; the corpse impacted its target, and both the man and the corpse were sent flying over the edge of the roof. The living man screamed until he met the pavement multiple stories below.

Dimitri attempted to shoot at the fox, but his reactions were too slow in comparison. His gun shattered as the vulpine impacted it with his left palm, the strike proving to be too much even for the tempered steel. The fox flattened his palm, his claw-tipped fingers at the forefront, and rammed Dimitri in the latter's right side. The sheer force behind the strike caused the vulpine's hand to tear straight through Dimitri's body, splintering the lower ribs and tearing out a kidney. Dimitri howled in agony; music to the vulpine's ears. The vulpine bared his teeth, and growled viciously before clenching his hand into a fist and ripping his hand back through the wound. Dimitri again screamed, and slumped down to the ground, clutching at the ragged hole in his side. Blood gushed from the wound; Dimitri would die within minutes from trauma, unless he somehow received aid.

The fox was not satisfied to leave Dimitri to die—not yet. With a snap of fingers, and a flash of green from his eyes, the vulpine generated an intense heat, instantly—and painfully—cauterizing the wound. With a fresh howl, Dimitri curled up into the fetal position.

The fox finally spoke, his baritone voice icy and full of hatred, "Filth, your life ends tonight. For all of the sins you have committed, you shall suffer, but you shall do so here, while you live, first. I cannot control your fate once you leave this world, so I want you to be victim to the pain you have caused countless innocents. I have sealed your wound not out of mercy, but out of spite; I don't want you to bleed out. You don't get to die. Not yet. I'm not through with you."

With that, a kick was delivered into Dimitri's side, sending him violently rolling, his headset falling off along the way. He came to a halt when his body slammed into the brick structure of the stairwell. His ribs cracked and splintered audibly, and Dimitri weakly coughed up blood. The vulpine mentally analyzed the blows he had dealt, and came up with a report of the damage done to Dimitri's body: approximately seven ribs on the right side had been broken, and the right lung had collapsed. In addition, Dimitri now did not possess a right kidney, and there was likely trauma to other vital organs near that area. Dimitri was reduced to a crumpled heap, and the fox walked towards Shane, the scuffle decidedly over.

Despite the fact that his body was almost completely destroyed, and he was about to lose consciousness due to shock, Dimitri somehow still possessed the will to fight back. He grabbed for one of the guns his men had dropped, dragging it loudly against the ground as he tried to lift it enough to use it.

The vulpine heard the noise, and spun on his heel, a look of disbelief on his face. Within a second, he realized that he was in danger, and acted. He took off faster than human eyes could follow, and kicked the weapon from Dimitri's grasp. To ensure that he would be completely incapacitated, the fox rolled Dimitri over onto his stomach, and lifted the man's arms behind his back until his shoulders broke. All that was heard from the giant was a pathetic whimper.

The fox breathed in and out deeply, calming his raw fury, and taking his time to allow Dimitri time to wallow in pain.

Deciding that the torture was sufficient, and not wanting to take any chances, the vulpine once again activated his power, and boiled the blood in Dimitri's brain as he clenched his fist. The blood that trickled from Dimitri's eyes, mouth, ears, and nose indicated to the vulpine that Dimitri was indeed dead.

Shane, who had been standing motionless and observing the attack in shock, finally reacted; retching, and then the sound of a liquid splattering on the ground, interrupted the silence on the roof. The fox looked over at Shane, who was hunched over, and raised an eyebrow. As he spoke, a light and playful tone tinged his tone, "What, big tough man can't handle some gore? Good; that means you have too much heart to be involved in shit like this."

Shane straightened up and wiped his mouth. Breathing hard, he managed to speak, "Pl-please don't kill me!"

At this, the vulpine laughed, "If I wanted you dead, you wouldn't be talking to me right now." He began to walk towards the edge of the roof, and upon reaching it, stepped up on the lip and looked down at the city below. Shane again spoke, asking the questions that had been nagging him for weeks, "Who are you? What are you? What do you want from me?"

The fox turned his head and upper body towards Shane to answer, "I am Vesper. I am the sentinel of the twilight; I protect the innocent from those who would do them harm. Dimitri was one I had sworn to track and kill. You were the key to the success of this mission. Congratulations, you helped bring him to justice. This fact should help you soothe your conscience. As for what I am..."

The figure threw back his hood, revealing a fox-shaped face, covered in glossy black fur, save for his muzzle and cheeks, which were pure white. Fox ears sat atop his head; they allowed him his superior hearing abilities. His large eyes were his most noticeable feature—vibrant green irises captured Shane's attention almost immediately.

"I am the result of genetic manipulation of human and fox DNA structure. In essence, I am a freak. I am already condemned for this fact, so taking up a life of vigilantism seemed like the obvious choice. At least this way, I can do something productive with my life, since death will provide me no salvation or solace. I have spared you because you are innocent. Do anything that may change that, and I might reconsider…" Shane blanched, and his pupils dilated in fear. "I do not wish to have to kill you, but I will if necessary. Take care now, Shane."

The vulpine took a small jump outward, and disappeared below the lip of the roof. Shane ran to the lip and peered over, only to see the city below. The figure was gone.


End file.
